Credit: Imago

James Barker

Sat 16 May 2026 12:40, UK

Emi Martinez is “proud” of Aston Villa and everyone connected with the football club after Friday night’s big win over Liverpool.

Indeed, it was certainly a night under the Villa Park lights that none in attendance will ever forget, as Aston Villa romped to a 4-2 win against Arne Slot’s Reds.

The Villans have now secured their place in next season’s Champions League, with Unai Emery keeping up his record of qualifying for European football in each of his four seasons in charge at B6.

Villa can now enter Wednesday night’s Europa League final against Freiburg full of confidence, in what would complete a dreamy few days for Villa fans everywhere.

Martinez has been a huge part of Villa’s success under Emery, and shortly after the full-time whistle blew to signal the win over Liverpool, the Argentine took to social media to share his feelings.

What did Emi Martinez say after Aston Villa win vs Liverpool?

At 33, Martinez is now coming towards the end of his sixth season as an Aston Villa player, having joined all the way back in the summer of 2020 from Arsenal.

Given he’d spent the majority of his time with the Gunners as a backup keeper, he did have his fair share of Villa sceptics when he first joined.

However, it’s fair to say he’s proved all of his doubters wrong during his stay in the West Midlands, establishing himself as one of world football’s top shot-stoppers.

There has been talk of a potential exit in the near future, with reports having emerged in recent months suggesting he may want to return to his homeland of Argentina to possibly see out the twilight years of his career.

That remains very much a case of waiting and seeing for Villa at the moment, but as showcased in the message he posted to his Instagram account after the Liverpool win, he absolutely adores the football club and its supporters.

“Proud of everyone @astonvilla, love you all,” he said.

How good was Martinez in Aston Villa vs Liverpool?

Despite his growing age, Martinez is still showing no clear signs of slowing down or regression.

Martinez put in a mixed performance against Burnley last time out, having been at fault for their opening goal at Turf Moor before making up for that with a brilliant assist for Ollie Watkins‘ goal in the second half.

His distribution was superb once again on Friday night, with a similar piece of quick thinking seeing him play a spectacular long ball up to Watkins in the second half, but the Villa striker couldn’t tee up Morgan Rogers after an exquisite first touch.

As per FotMob, Martinez made three saves against Liverpool, whilst registering a passing accuracy of 67 per cent and completing eight accurate long balls.

He also made seven recoveries, one high claim, two diving saves, four throws and took 56 touches against the Reds respectively.

It was another uber-solid performance from Martinez, and was further proof of how tough a goalkeeper he will be for Aston Villa to replace when the time comes.